Love Happens…

He had returned from his US trip and headed straight to Ria’s house. He was as eager as ever.

He rang the bell; nobody came for at least 5 minutes. He again rang the bell; twice, thrice but nothing! He started calling her from the window near the door but no reply. Then he tried to open the door and it opened without any issue; the door was already open. That was very unusual of Ria. He got worried, slowly he went inside. The house seemed okay nothing was out of place. He moved from one room to another calling Ria continuously. But nothing; Ria was living alone so there was no one in the house. Lastly, he moved to her bedroom and…and…and he screamed! Ria was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Frantically he ran to check her pulse but she was already gone. He took her lifeless body in his lap, he searched for any signal of life.

“Ria… Ria… Please get up, please get up. I am here!” But nothing happened. He was wailing in pain, he wanted to be with her after his return to India but not like this. His eyes were flooded with tears, at the end he couldn’t take it anymore and cried out her name loudly. “Ria… Ria..”

Next day headlines in newspapers in Mumbai: “Has Mumbai’s youngest entrepreneur turned into a killer??? Rishabh Malhotra the star young entrepreneur is found under suspicious conditions in his business partner, Ria Saxena’s house who was killed. Did the young entrepreneurs had a business mishap which led to Ria’s murder? ”

Previous day:

Rishabh didn’t realize how much time had passed, he was soaked in Ria’s blood with her body in his lap. But a scream distracted him from his trance. It was Ria’s maid, who was screaming. Rishabh tried to talk to her but she was hysterical. Before he could say anything, she ran out to the neighbors’ and gathered the whole society around. Somebody had called police. Everybody gathered outside waiting for police.

Police arrived, they did the primary enquiry about who called and what happened. They took the maid’s statement. Meanwhile Rishabh was still sitting near Ria’s dead body, his clothes were soaked in blood. Things weren’t looking great for him, but he couldn’t escape from there. And why would he? He himself wanted to find out who did this to Ria. Forensic was working on the crime scene. Everything was just passing in front of Rishabh’s eyes, but he couldn’t process it. He had turned into a ghost of a man who he was before.

Rishabh tried to explain the Police Inspector Rohit Mangle that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But he didn’t budge. Rohit was known for his special distaste for high profile people who were involved in crime, he was quite ruthless in dealing with them.

Rishabh: “I just came inside and found her lying on the floor. She was bleeding, I tried to check her pulse, but she was already gone. I didn’t do anything, I am innocent.”

Rohit: “Every criminal says the same thing, Mr.Rishabh, and that doesn’t mean they are innocent!”

Rishabh: “Ria was not only my business partner but she was my dearest friend. Why will I do this to her?”

Rohit: “That’s why we are here! Anyways all evidences are pointing to you Mr.Rishabh. We need to take you in custody, we can’t do anything. You can call your lawyer though.”

As expected Rishabh was considered as the primary suspect of Ria’s murder.They took him in custody. They were going to charge him against Ria’s murder. With his high level connection he could still manage a bail, but still it was going to take a day.

Finally he got the bail, of course he was under radar. As he was out from custody, Rishabh started calling Geeta endlessly, but her phone wasn’t reachable. He called her home landline but servant told him Geeta wasn’t there from last 2-3 days.

Present Day:

Rishabh went home, he was desperate to see Geeta. He was still devastated from Ria’s sudden death. He couldn’t accept that she was gone, that too like this. He was calling Geeta desperately, he searched every room of his house, but Geeta was nowhere to be seen. He asked servants but they said that they didn’t see her from last 2-3 days. It was normal for them, as it happened many times Geeta didn’t tell anyone where she was going and she was back in few days. Thus nobody suspected.

A trio of business genius took over the Mumbai! Rishabh Malhotra, Ria Saxena and Geeta Sen are the young entrepreneurs who were taking garment industry to the new heights! Three of them had made it big.

Rishabh, Ria and Geeta had taken the challenge of converting Geeta’s dad’s slow paced garment business into a money making machine. And they really made it possible. Three of them were the fresh business graduates from IIMs, but they didn’t want to serve companies like others, instead they wanted to create their own empire. And they really did it in just span of 3-4 years. The three friends were inseparable but Geeta and Rishabh always shared a special bond since college. Both decided to get married when they graduated. Geeta’s dad wasn’t very happy as she was his only daughter and Rishabh wasn’t from a business class. But for Geeta’s sake they agreed. And with their great success in business later, he couldn’t be more proud of both of them!

This was almost 100th time, Rishabh was calling Geeta. But it was coming switched off now. He was really worried for her. He had called every possible relative, her friends, their business acquaintances. But nobody knew where she was. Her parents were worried sick, they were at his home.

He and Geeta had a fight before his trip to US. He thought it was the regular day, when Geeta would go offline from the world by switching off her mobile. But it seemed, there was nothing as usual. He knew she was angry at him but she never went aloof like this before. He was really worried. Her parents talked about informing police. Name of the police was already very painful for Rishabh considering his current situation. Already press was giving him a field day. They were just outside his house waiting for his official statement. But finding Geeta was also important, finally he called the police and explained them the situation.

Police Vans surrounded Rishabh’s house. The press which was already eager for Rishabh’s official statement, after seeing police vans went crazy. Again it was inspector Rohit who reached there eagerly to ask details about Geeta’s disappearance.

Rohit: “Mr.Rishabh, isn’t it an irony wherever you are going the mishaps are following you!”

Rishabh: “Inspector please do your job. Geeta isn’t there, I have already lost my friend and now my wife has disappeared what can be worse than this?”

Rohit: “You haven’t seen worse Mr.Rishabh, once you are in jail you will understand exactly how worse it can go!”

Rishabh: “Inspector, again you are suspecting me! I didn’t do anything. Do you understand, how much harmful this situation is for my business. Why would I take the risk of killing my business partners when it nearly means the death of my business empire?”

Rohit: “That I really don’t know Mr.Rishabh. But I know greed makes people do crazy things, you may not be an exception. We’ll find out! But for now please tell me whatever you know about Geeta’s schedule and her daily routine, so that we can go ahead!”

Rishabh told him whatever he knew, everybody from the house was questioned. But nobody knew about her whereabouts. Police decided to trace her cell and promised to inform.

Geeta’s mobile’s last location was showing somewhere in Arabian Sea near Elephanta caves. Rishabh knew this was her hideout from the world when she wanted to be alone. He told Rohit about the same. And also explained that Geeta had disappeared like that previously as well.

Rohit asked him whether they had any fight or any argument before the incident. Rishabh hesitantly told them about their fight before his departure. He was asking so many questions like, “Did you hurt her physically? Or what was the reason of the fight?”

Though he was a successful businessman, but that was nothing new for Mumbai and also for Mumbai police. Rohit & co. were very direct, rigorously drilling him with questions with very little politeness.

Rohit: “Mr. Rishabh, can you please explain what was the fight about?”

Rishabh: “We had a fight over recent events in our company. Geeta found missing money in company accounts, those weren’t matching. She had a doubt that somebody was stealing from company. As all the accounts from where money was gone were from Ria’s clientele. Thus Geeta was assuming Ria was the culprit. And I was insistent that Ria couldn’t do that, as it was her company too.”

Meanwhile the details about Geeta’s phone record were traced. The last call she made was to Rishabh and also the location of the call was very suspicious.

“Mr. Rishabh, sorry to say but you are already under suspicion of Ria Saxena murder case and now your wife is also missing. The last call made from her was yours. I must say things aren’t looking good for you.” Rohit said.

“I couldn’t hurt any of them. Please try to understand inspector. They were not only my partners but my friends and family!” Rishabh pleaded.

Rohit: “Under current circumstances we need to take you in custody Mr.Rishabh. All the things are pointing towards you and only you.”

News were flashing all over media -

“Has the star entrepreneur turned into a killer? After Ria Saxena’s murder Geeta Malhotra, Rishabh Malhotra’s wife was found missing! Has Rishabh killed both in the hunger of the business empire?”

Rishabh was in jail. Media was portraying him as a killer. Police investigation was over and they found traces of his fingerprints all over Ria’s house, they also found his clothes in her closet. They found a body of woman on the location where Geeta’s last location was traced. It was identified as Geeta’s by her parents. As Geeta’s last call was to Rishabh’s and there was enough suspicion because of their fight before her disappearance. In both the cases all circumstantial evidences were pointing towards Rishabh.

Thanks to Geeta’s parents’ high profile criminal lawyer and inspector Rohit, Rishabh was found guilty They charged him for murder of Ria and Geeta, as well as for conspiring in business deals. Everything he had built was gone in fire and he was left with ashes.

Rishabh had accepted life in jail. He already suffered enough disaster that he didn’t complain about his punishment. He had lost his love, his life and everything he had created. There was nothing for him in the world. Days were passing but nothing helped his suffering.

Suddenly one day he was informed that there was someone who came to meet him. It was unusual, nobody ever visited him. His parents were dead and for rest of the world he was a killer. Thus there was no one who would want to see him.

It was a woman. She had covered her face with a scarf and her eyes were hidden behind large goggles. She sat in front of him. He didn’t recognize her, but something was strikingly familiar.

“I know, it was you who was stealing from those accounts. You did it very sharply, didn’t you?” the woman said.

He was startled by that question. “Who are you? How do you know this? Who are you, tell me.”

“You tried to defend her only to defend yourself, right? Anyways she was your partner in crime, wasn't she? Not only the partner in crime but partner in bed as well?”

Rishabh was shaking profusely, his face went pale. How did she know? “Who the hell are you? How do you know about my personal life?” He asked.

The woman removed the scarf and goggle. She was facing him. And suddenly Rishabh went numb, he couldn’t process what he was seeing in front of him. He couldn’t breathe. The couldn’t believe on his eyes. The woman sitting in front him and questioning him was none other than Geeta.

“You thought nobody will know about the money. You were always confident as ever, something which attracted me towards you in past...But after that day, I couldn’t trust anyone, thus I kept you guys under my radar. And finally what I found had shattered my world. You were always in love with her, you never loved me. That day I heard your conversation.”

Rishabh: “She found out about the money. She was looking into company accounts today. Unfortunately all the clientele was yours, thus she thinks it’s you. I tried to convince her that it was an accounting mistake.”

Ria: “How did that happen? We were quite careful in those dealings.”

Rishabh: “It’s Geeta! She is very strict in maintaining company finances in line. But what to do now?”

Ria: “If she found about us, we are doomed. She will directly go to the board and then we will be gone in a day!”

Rishabh: “We can’t afford that. We are already suffering a lot because of her. I only married her so that we can get her Dad’s money. Else my love, I would have never ever left you like this.”

RIA: “I know, I know dear. But what to do now? I don’t see any way out.”

Rishabh: “Don’t worry sweetheart .I definitely know one. It’s time that we shall bid final goodbye to my beloved wife!”

“And that day you planned everything about how to get rid of me. You booked a ticket to US showing purpose of business visit. You called in your contacts in underworld to take care of me. You left two days before my abduction. You planned it very smartly! That to take me to the same place where I usually go in search of silence. They took me there, they tied me up and threw me in the sea. You all thought I was dead. But I was lucky, god was with me. A fisherman saw me and saved my life.”

“I was raged, but I didn’t go to police. Because that would have been too easy for you guys. I wanted to avenge myself but not too easily. So I used your scheme in my favor. I went to Ria’s house, killed her in cold blood. I knew, you will be coming to her for celebrating your ultimate victory!

I knew, though she was killed, you will continue your charade about my disappearance, else things would have gone totally against you. Rest of the things were quite easy, I tipped police about a possible suspect in my abduction, who confessed. I also steered media as I wanted and portrayed you as an ultimate villain who killed his business partners in hunger of the business empire!”

“You wanted money, you could have just asked me. You wanted divorce I would have given that too, if you would have told me. But instead you cheated me. You used me. Shattered my heart in million pieces. And finally tried to kill me! I would have just smiled and given you everything, but you didn’t!”

“I had loved you more than myself and you punished me for loving you! Now this is your punishment for the whole life, you won’t have your money, power and most importantly your love!

Bye forever Rishabh Malhotra. Have a happy life ahead! Will never meet again!”